Tuesday, October 02, 2018

Vijayawada: Catching international flights from Vijayawada has still remained a dream for people in the city. Though Airport Authority of India (AAI) announced a direct flight service to Singapore from the first week of October, this is getting delayed because of the problems in the customs clearance.
Gannavaram Airport, in the heart of Capital city Amaravati, is growing bigger every year and construction of domestic terminal has brought a new look. Union cabinet approved Vijayawada airport as International Airport in May 2017, but it did not witness a single international movement since then due to the slow pace of works.
The AAI that decided to transform the old terminal into international terminal had given a facelift to it and installed new conveyor belts, immigration counters, security check, waiting for lounge and others by the second week of April 2018.
Still the airport has been waiting for the maiden international service. The state government had proposed to run a chartered flight between Vijayawada and Singapore to facilitate delegates and international consultants coming to Amaravati. Meanwhile, Indigo airlines came forward to run service between Vijayawada- Singapore as the state government came forward to do viability gap funding.
02/10/18 Venu Lanka/Times of India